Ice Storm
by bratmin
Summary: For some reason Nico finds himself in Canada on Christmas Eve in the middle of a freezing ice storm-and a certain spirit of winter decides to pay him a visit. Besides, who doesn't like skating?


It looked like Jack Frost had covered the entire world in a sheet of ice.

Nico stared out the window of the small inn, sighing to himself. Why he'd decided to come to Canada of all places on the 23nd of December, he had no idea. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. He'd been on the run—in a manor of speaking—for weeks now. He would hop from place to place, regain his strength before shadow traveling somewhere new. It was a good way to learn about how the world worked now. No matter how long he'd been here, he still wasn't really used to all the changes from the 30's.

He was just passing through, spending the night before heading off somewhere else. Obviously the weather had other ideas. He cursed Khione for being a spiteful bitch and turned up the heater.

Ice storms were the worst. Apparently there hadn't been an ice storm like this in this town for over 15 years. The lady behind the desk had smiled at him and said, 'That would have been before you were born'. Oh if she only knew.

It was beautiful, if nothing else. There was barely anyone outside since it was minus 20 degrees Celsius and everything was covered in ice. It was too dangerous to drive so most people just stayed at home by the light of their fires and their Christmas trees.

Nico sighed again and leaned his forehead against the chilled window glass. He wanted to go home. Which was odd because he didn't exactly have one. Neither camp was really… home.

Jason would argue that. He would say that both camps would always welcome him with open arms. He was the hero that had brought back the Athena Parthenon with Reyna. If it weren't for him they camps would both have killed each other. Blah blah blah. Nico didn't have a home. He was a lone wolf, so to speak.

So it confused Nico a little when he thought of wanting to go home. Where exactly did he mean?

Nico shook his head, ridding it of those thoughts. He needed some fresh air—no matter how cold that air may be.

He pushed himself off the window seat and grabbed his boots and jacket, bundling up for the freezing cold. How they survived out here, he had no idea. He'd never lived anywhere that got especially cold and he would never get used to it.

Giving a slightly forced smile to the woman behind the desk he opened the door, a blast of cold air stinging at his cheeks. He cursed softly and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him so he didn't waste the heat.

Stepping out onto the walkway was like asking death to come and claim him. He fell onto his ass in seconds, the slippery ground deadly. Maybe he would just sit. He'd never been good at skating.

"Screw Kingston," he muttered, resisting the urge to pout. "I'm going back to Hawaii."

"What do you expect, it's Ontario."

Nico's head whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. He didn't see him, which put him incredibly on edge. The voice had sounded close—too close for him not to be able to see the body.

"Wait, you heard that?"

Nico looked up so fast he got a headrush. On top of the awning sat a boy with white hair and bare feet only a year or two older than him. Nico's eyes went wide. He could sense the power from this boy. He wasn't just a demigod—this boy was a god.

"Of course I heard that, you weren't exactly whispering," Nico muttered, trying to push himself to his feet.

The boy hopped off the porch roof, seeming to float to the ground. He stood on the ice with his bare feet, leaning against a long, worn staff.

"Not many people above the age of 9 can see me. I'm not used to being believed in by teenagers," the boy said with a lopsided grin.

Nico frowned as he pushed himself to his feet, leaning back against the wall for support.

"Who are you?" Nico asked, frowning suspiciously before remembering it was a bad idea to be rude to gods. "If you don't mind me asking."

The boy laughed and moved his staff to the other hand, dropping into a low bow. "Jack Frost, at your service."

Nico's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. He was expecting a god, not… he wasn't sure what to call him.

"You're really Jack Frost? I mean… I never expected you to have a human form. I thought you were just a spirit."

Jack sighed dramatically

"I am a spirit. A spirit with a human form." He held his arms out to either side as if to say, 'See? Human form!'

Nico wrinkled his nose and sniffed. "Well… could you possibly make it less cold?"

Jack laughed and leaned forwards, floating off the ground and moving towards Nico so his face was an inch away. Nico's blinked rapidly in surprise, flattening himself against the door. He wasn't used to people being in his personal space.

"The cold isn't so bad, you know," Jack said, head tilting to the side. "Winter means snow fights and ice skating and making snowmen."

Nico turned his head to the side so he wasn't nose to nose with the semi god any more. "I-I can't skate… and I don't like snow fights. And I'm bad at making snow men."

Jack floated backwards, much to Nico's relief.

"How can you not like snow fights?" Jack asked, a look of utter shock on his face. "No one's bad at making snowmen and… well I can always teach you to skate. We've got enough ice for that."

Nico started to shake his head but Jack was already wrapping his hands around Nico's biceps, pulling him away from the door.

"I'll take you to the outdoor skating rink just a couple blocks away. The ice is more even there."

Nico chuckled nervously. "N-no, I really don't skate."

Jack smirked. "What's your name, kid?"

Nico blinked, started for a moment by the sudden question. "Nico di Angelo," he muttered softly.

Jack grinned wide. "Well, Nico di Angelo. Let's go skating."

Nico's mouth opened the protest but the only sound that came out was a long squeal. He stared down at the ground with wide eyes as it slowly got further and further way from him. He flailed a little and moved his arms until he was clinging to Jack's hoodie.

"O-oh no, no, no… Shit, I hate flying."

Jack just laughed, soaring through the frozen streets, his grip on Nico tight but gentle.

"You say that like you have experience," Jack said, looking down to meet Nico's eyes with a grin. "Do a lot of flying?"

Nico flushed and clutched Jack's hoodie tighter, a hair shy of wrapping his arms around him. "A friend… Son of Jupiter."

Jack made a small 'ah' sound and nodded, seeming to understand.

Neither of them spoke until they touched down in the big open square with a hockey sized skating rink in the center of it.

Nico almost kissed the ground when he felt it under his feet, letting out a long sigh of relief. He would never get used to flying like that. It was definitely his least favourite mode of travel.

He jumped when he felt Jack's cold hand on his shoulder.

"So~?" Jack asked, head tilted to the side as he floated practically above Nico's head. "Ready to skate?"

Nico swallowed hard and looked out at the ice rink. He shook his head slowly and took a step back. "I don't really think this is a good idea… besides, I don't have any skates."

Jack flipped in the air and landed in front of Nico, placing both hands on his shoulders. "That's an easy fix."

Jack snapped his fingers and Nico almost fell over. He looked down at his boots and felt his jaw drop. On the soles of his shoes were skating blades—made entirely of ice.

"Jack…" Nico began, but Jack was already one step ahead of him. He spun behind Nico and gave him a good hard shove. Nico stumbled forwards and slipped the instant his skate hit the ice.

And before Nico's face could become very acquainted with the ice rink's surface, Jack caught him by the jacket and pulled him upright.

"Whoa there, boy. Careful now." Jack steadied him and smirked, head tilting to the side again.

He gave Nico about two seconds to regain his balance before he was behind him, hands flat on his back and pushing him forwards.

Nico yelped in surprise and tried to flail his arms to help his balance, but all that did was make it worse. If it wasn't for Jack behind him, there was no way he would be able to stay on his feet.

"J-Jack! Slow down!"

Jack promptly ignored him and went faster, pushing Nico around on the ice and never letting him fall.

After a while, it didn't seem so scary any more. Nico started to like it. He started to laugh, arms in the air as he was pushed around on the ice.

It would probably look a little strange to anyone else who saw—a boy skating around by himself, moving far too fast to be possible without moving his feet at all. Nico didn't really think about that, though, which was odd for him. He was just having fun. He couldn't remember the last time he had fun. Honest, innocent, fun.

"Move your feet!" Jack said loudly in Nico's ear. "Skate, like real! Don't worry, I won't let you fall! Trust me!"

Nico started to feel nervous again but the adrenaline pumping through him got the better of it. He did was he was told, moving his feet like he was skating. Jack didn't let him fall and soon he was comfortable enough that he felt he didn't need Jack there.

And then he wasn't.

Nico panicked internally for a split second, his safety blanket roughly ripped away from him, but Jack floated along in front of him, grinning widely like he was so proud.

So Nico kept skating.

It was amazing. He barely even noticed the cold any more. He felt warm and happy and he couldn't stop laughing.

He had no idea how long there were out there, but by the time he started to get tired it was already getting dark.

He looked around and started to slow his speed, wanting to stop moving.

Problem was, he had no idea how.

"Uh… Jack? H-how do I stop?"

Jack laughed loudly, flipping upside down as he flew along beside the son of Hades.

"Turn sideways," Jack said, flipping right side up so he could mime the action in the air.

Nico gulped and copied Jack's movement. He came skidding to a halt—and completely lost his balance.

"Waahh!"

He landed on his ass, blinking stars out of his vision as Jack laughed loudly from beside him.

"See?" Jack said, sitting down on the ice beside him. "You can skate!"

Nico looked at Jack, a dumb expression on his face for a moment before he cracked up, his hand moving to cover his mouth. He'd never laughed so much in one day before and he felt like he might never be able to stop.

He fell backwards so he was laying on the ice, splayed out like he was about to make a snow angel, laughter slowly dying down.

He stared up at the sky as it started to snow on him. He smiled happily, sensing more than seeing Jack lay down behind him, the tops of their heads almost touching.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," Nico said softly, eyes closing as a snowflake landed on his nose.

"Merry Christmas, Nico."

"Jason wake up! Come on, wake up!"

There was a loud thud of one son of the lightning god falling out of bed before a scrambling for his clothes.

"N-Nico?" he asked, pushing the door to his cabin open as he was still buttoning his pants, not bothering with a shirt.

He'd been expecting an emergency, but… well he guessed it kind of was. Nico looked like a kid in a candy store and it was absolutely terrifying.

"Jason, come on! Get dressed, already, we gotta go!"

Jason's eyebrow quirked upwards.

"Uh, go where?"

Nico rolled his eyes as if Jason was being an idiot.

"It's freezing in New York, Jason! Let's go skating in Central Park!"

Jason was extremely concerned now. Last time he checked Nico detested skating.

"Did the Canadians infect you last year? You came home so… chipper."

Nico rolled his eyes again and pushed his way inside the cabin, grabbing a shirt and winter jacket, shoving them into Jason's arms before yanking him out of the cabin by his arm.

"Better put those on fast, cause I'm shadow traveling in a second and it's not summer where we're going."

Jason didn't need to be told twice.

Stepping out of the shadows and into Central Park sent a shiver down Nico's spine. It was damn cold. Excellent.

He turned excitedly to Jason and pulled him towards the lake by his arm.

Jason didn't seem to impressed by this sudden snow day, but he wasn't outright complaining and Nico was planning on exploiting that fact.

It was Christmas Eve and Nico was feeling nostalgic.

He looked down at the skates in his hands and wished for the ice one's Jack Frost had made him exactly a year previous.

Once he was out on the ice, he felt a sigh of relief slide past his lips. He skated across the frozen lake, spinning and doing tricks that Jack had taught him during the week he'd spent in that little town in Canada with him.

Jason was staring at him as if he'd grown a second head but he didn't care. He'd only dragged him along because he didn't want to be alone.

Jack had better things to do than hang around a 15 year old kid all day.

He sighed loudly and held his arms out as he skated through the cold.

"Oh, I wish it was snowing!" he shouted to the sky, as if willing it to do his bidding.

He felt something cold touch his cheek and looked up towards the sky, skidding to a stop in surprise.

A small grin spread across his lips and he closed his eyes, arms moving out to the sides again.

He took a deep breath and let himself fall backwards, vaguely aware of Jason shouting his name.

Trust me.

He floated to the ice gracefully, feeling the hands on his shoulder to help guide him down. His eyes opened as a snowflake landed on his nose. He grinned and stared up into icy blue eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," he whispered softly.

"Merry Christmas, Nico."


End file.
